Heathrow

I really love airports. Flying for business or pleasure, I absolutely don’t care. I can’t get enough of the experience. I never tire of it. Sure, you can have all sorts of delays, cancellations, baggage losses and other upsets, but there’s something about the diversity, emotions, hope, and anticipation that floods through an airport.

I am very fortunate that in my job there is a pretty decent amount of travel. Yeah, so occasionally, I might have to go to an actual nasty place but that is becoming less likely these days. More often than not, I find myself conducting what most people would simply term as “business trips”. I take very short trips, often just a night or two, to far flung places to have a meeting, shake some hands and come back. These are ideal. These are short pauses in normal routine where I get to envelope myself in the hustle, joy, tears, fears, panic, and peaceful excitement of the greatest cross-section of the world.

As I look around, I see immediately the Red and Blue of a Great Britain sports team. Not immediately obvious who they are but clearly focused, in peak condition for whatever they are headed towards. There are some who just can’t keep their eyes off the incoming arrivals and outgoing planes, streaking away in all directions across the sky. There are those buried, oblivious to the world, in a phone/laptop/tablet. Some are trying new foods for the first time at the sushi bar. Many have shopping bags, carrying devices, clothes, wine, that they didn’t think they needed when they passed through check-in.

The smiles are the most obvious expression. Kisses and embraces at almost every turn. So far, no arguments; well, not with each other, perhaps at the coffee bill!
Anyway, you get the picture, I’m flying again. Heathrow Terminal 2 once more. My gate has just flashed up as A18 so I should get this posted.

Definitely my wheelhouse, this one. Out front from the start, despite the 0530 eye opening today. I kept up the pressure throughout, each round relatively as fast as the previous. 20 Burpees then smashed out in 42 seconds. Considering 9 mins of it was “Rest”, this is pretty strong.

Nutrition

Still 2100 KCal per day but now compensating for cals expended during exercise, using Vivoactive HR (with HRM strap) for increased accuracy.

This quote has always been one of my favourites. It’s overused, clichéd and blindingly obvious but I feel it to be quite powerful. Such a simple reminder in life permits you to try absolutely anything and, if not successful first time, try it again. if you don’t try it, you’ll never know what you’ve missed nor what could have been.

So it was this morning with getting out of bed for PT. I set the alarm slightly later than normal as my airport transport wasn’t due until 0845. Still, I was feeling achy and irritable when I woke from a seasonably muggy sleep. Within seconds of my self – bitching, this quote popped in to my mind. Cool! Get up, get out! I was suddenly motivated, alive and pulling apart the curtains to another beautiful Summer day!

Morning Session

Opting for Back Squats today, and with no PT for the next two days, I decided to go heavier than 85%.

Watching Tom Bench Press 125kg last night, I feel extraordinarily weak only Squatting a similar amount but this equals my most recent 1RM and is 5kg from my all-time PR. In Sept, I’ll be beginning an AM squatting programme to replace the Oly Lifting ‘re-familiarisation’ that I’m currently on. Squatting and leg power is the foundation of all athletic ability; it’s time I caught up.

Travel

Off to USA today for a conference in DC. Somehow, exactly the same period for the last 3 years has seen me in DC. I suspect it’s because it’s always just before summer leave, my final trip prior to 3 weeks rest.

Flying with Virgin Atlantic, I never have a bad experience. Indeed, today looked like it would top all other travel ever! The check-in desks were full and so us common folk were filtered to the ‘Upper Class’ desk.

A lovely German lady checked me in and, after a few moments, disappeared! This wasn’t looking helpful. She returned about 5 mins later (queue of people behind me) to inform me that she had tried to upgrade me but that I wouldn’t know until I reached the gate as there were still spare seats that they’d been trying to sell. As “insurance”, I was given an emergency exit seat with 24″ extra legroom! Boom!

Following a guy to the gate, I saw him stop, put down his bag and just start playing some quite awesome music on a random piano in the concourse! Another great boost to an already bright day!

I got to Gate 40 to find the plane being serviced; I was extremely excited.

I think getting an upgrade would have been pushing my luck a little too far, however. As I handed over my boarding card, there were no smiles or ushering to one side, only simply the typically happy and courteous, “Enjoy your flight” from the lovely Virgin Atlantic staff.